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A Match To Dimpy

Elle Elephant was a florist. He owned a small flower shop in Champakvan. Elle was a good-natured fellow and took good care of his customers. He had even hung a beautiful wooden board outside his shop. On the board was painted in bold letters, “ELLE FLORIST. Buy our flowers. They are beautiful and fragrant. They are fresh and will make you feel refreshed through the day.”

Elle Elephant was very courteous to all his customers. “He is always smiling, just like his flowers!” Elle Elephant’s customers would often say.

But Elle Elephant had a rule that he followed very strictly. He only sold his flowers to the animals and birds who paid him right away. He didn’t give credit to anyone. None of the customers even bothered to ask for credit for they knew what a hard worker the young elephant was and that he deserved to be paid right away.

Besides this, Elle Elephant’s flower shop had another speciality. Its fresh lotus flowers. Come rain or shine, Elle Elephant would wake up early every morning. He would wade in the pond and bring fresh lotus flowers from there.

Elle Elephant would sell some of the lotus flowers from his shop. He would personally deliver the others to the homes and shops of the animals who didn’t have the time to come to his shop. He didn’t charge them anything extra.

Everyone was impressed by the trouble Elle Elephant took. This resulted in good business for the shop. Dimpy Monkey was very fond of lotus flowers. He was a tailor and owned a small tailoring shop in Champakvan. Dimpy Monkey liked putting the lotus flowers in a vase that he had on his workbench. He relished their fragrance.

Like Elle Elephant, Dimpy Monkey was an expert at his work too. Everyone liked the clothes he stitched. They looked nice and fitted well. And so, Dimpy Monkey’s shop was always crowded.

But Dimpy Monkey’s nature was quite different from Elle Elephant’s.

Dimpy Monkey was a grumpy fellow. He lost his temper very quickly too. Even the pettiest matter annoyed Dimpy Monkey no end. He wore glasses and every time he got angry and shouted, his glasses appeared like they were dancing on his nose.

HONESTY PAYS OFF

Nobody liked Dimpy Monkey because of his foul temper. But there was no other tailor better than him in Champakvan. And so, all the animals in the forest had no choice but to ask Dimpy Monkey to stitch their clothes.

Elle Elephant would take fresh lotus flowers to Dimpy Monkey’s shop every day. He would politely ask him for the money after leaving the flowers near the vase on the workbench.

Once Dimpy Monkey had paid Elle Elephant the money, he would leave quietly.

One morning, Elle Elephant went to the tailoring shop as usual to deliver a bunch of lotus flowers. He found Dimpy Monkey in the middle of an argument with a customer.

Elle Elephant waited patiently till the customer left and then kept the flowers on Dimpy Monkey’s workbench. “Brother Dimpy,” Elle Elephant said politely.

“Here are your lotus flowers. Please give me my money now. I can’t wait any longer. I have to reach my shop soon. My customers will be waiting for me.” Dimpy Monkey was in a terrible mood. “Put the flowers in the vase!” he scowled and said. “I will give you the money tomorrow.”

“You know I don’t give anyone credit,” Elle Elephant said courteously. “It will take you less than a minute to reach into your pocket and give me my money.”

To Elle Elephant’s surprise, Dimpy Monkey grew furious. “Fatso,” he shouted. “I have already told you that I will pay you your money tomorrow. Now stop bothering me and get out of my shop!”

Elle Elephant lost his temper too now. He didn’t like being insulted or spoken to so rudely. “Well Dimpy,” Elle Elephant said, sounding very annoyed. “I want my money right now. If you don’t pay me right now, I’ll take my flowers back.”

This made matters worse. Dimpy Monkey flew into a rage.

Without even stopping to think, he picked up a pair of scissors and poked Elle Elephant’s trunk. “You want money, Elle Elephant?” Dimpy Monkey shouted. The glasses on his nose danced. “Well, this is your money!”

“Ow!” Elle Elephant howled in pain. He then ran out of the shop.

Dimpy Monkey laughed as he saw Elle Elephant holding his trunk and running on the street. “I’ve scared Elle Elephant away!” he thought and began cutting a piece of cloth.

More From Champak: Help Yourself

Elle Elephant walked back to his shop, feeling very annoyed. “I’ll teach that horrible Dimpy Monkey a lesson!” he thought. “He’ll never dare poke anyone again!”
Later that day, Dimpy Monkey was ironing the clothes he had just finished stitching when Elle Elephant suddenly entered his shop.

Dimpy Monkey was surprised to see him.

But before he could say anything, Elle Elephant threw some muddy water that he had in his trunk all over Dimpy Monkey’s shop. The new clothes that Dimpy Monkey had stitched got dirty and there were small puddles of mud everywhere.

Dimpy Monkey was astonished. “Oh no!” he cried.

“Elle Elephant has ruined my customers’ new clothes! I have taken so much trouble to stitch them. What will I tell my customers now when they come asking for their new clothes?”

Nothing like that had happened to Dimpy Monkey before. No one had dared to stand up to him or teach him a lesson.

“I shouldn’t have poked Elle Elephant’s trunk,” he said regretfully.

When Dimpy Monkey’s customers came to take their clothes, Dimpy had no choice but to tell them what had happened.

“Dimpy Monkey,” each and every one of Dimpy Monkey’s customers said. “You always lose your temper at others. You are always rude to others. Today, you have found your match.”

Dimpy Monkey felt very embarrassed. He decided he would never lose his temper or hurt anyone again. He even apologized to Elle Elephant for poking his trunk and was never rude to him again.

BLOW HORN

Riya and Manya had gone to their grandparents with their parents. Their car was left alone in the garage.

‘All of them have gone for a vacation but have left me alone here. Now for 20 days, I will be stuck in this darkness. Riya was telling Manya that they are going for 20 days to the grandparents,’ the car thought and felt sad.

The car looked around in the garage to see if there was somebody to talk so that it could pass time. It spotted a rat who was busy eating something.

“Brother Rat, how are you?” When the car called, the rat got terrified and hid inside a box.

“Why are you getting frightened? This is me, the car. You are getting so scared hearing my voice as if I am a cat,” the car laughed, “Anyway leave all these things. For 20 days its just the 2 of us in the house. Everyone has gone out.

Will you play something with me?”

“Later, right now I am going to the kitchen. I won’t get a better opportunity to eat to my heart’s content in the kitchen. I will rule the kitchen for the next 20 days,” the rat said overjoyed and ran out of the garage.

‘I shouldn’t have told him about everybody is out. Now he will not come to the garage,’ the car thought.

It was 12 at night. The car too was trying to sleep. Just then the rat came back running to the garage. “Phew, life saved

“Phew, life saved,” he was panting.

“What happened?” the car was startled.

“You had told me that there is nobody in the house and all will come after 20 days, so I was sleeping in the kitchen. But now 2 people came inside the kitchen. I was about to be crushed under their feet.”

“That’s very nice.”

What? I was about to get killed and you are saying that it is nice.”

“No Brother, the man must be Riya and Manya’s father. I am feeling happy thinking that I won’t have to stay locked in the garage for 20 days,” the car said joyfully.

“But none of them was Riya and Manya’s father.”

“Then they must be the neighbours whom they must have asked to keep a check on the house.”

“Might be possible,” the rat said. The garage opened at that time and 2 people entered inside.

“Appu, there is a car in the garage. Instead of taking 10 small things from the house, it’s better that we take the car itself,” One man said to the other.

“Pappu, in that case, get inside the car. Let us take the car.”

“Stupid, if we start the car then the neighbours will come to know that there is somebody in the house. This can put us in a loop. We will have to push the car and take it away,” Appu hit Pappu’s head with his hand and said.

“They are thieves,” the car panicked.

“Raise an alarm to chase them away,” the rat said and started shouting loudly saying ‘Thief, thief.

“Stop it. Your voice is so soft that nobody will be able to hear you and even if they do, no human would understand you. It’s anyway good that they are not able to understand you, otherwise, these thieves would have beaten you dead.”

“So what shall we do now?”

“Till they don’t start the car, I can’t do anything, but you can do something.”

“What?”

“You blow the horn which will cause a loud sound and the neighbours will wake up. Then these thieves will have to run away,” when the car said this, the rat went inside and stood on the horn but it didn’t blow. By that time Appu and Pappu had pushed the car outside the garage.

“Brother Rat, do something.”

“What should I do? I am standing on the horn but it is not blowing,” the rat said.

Appu and Pappu were taking the car towards the gate. When the rat couldn’t think of anything, he bit Appu’s hand and again stood on the horn. Appu saw the rat inside the car and wanted to punch him.

The rat moved from the horn and Appu’s hand touched the horn which started blowing loudly.

“What are you doing, you stupid? If you will blow the horn at this hour, the neighbours will wake up,” Pappu shouted furiously.

“A rat bit me and I was hitting him.”

“Appu, leave the rat and quickly get out from here,” Pappu said, pushing the car. As soon as they reached the gate, they found the police waiting for them.

“How did the police come here?” Appu was shocked.

“We are here because of your stupid behaviour. We were taking rounds over here when we heard the sound of the horn. We came here wondering who was the horn at this hour and found you two,” the policeman said, putting handcuffs in their hands.

“That means we got caught just because of a rat,” Appu-Pappu said, holding their heads.

By that time, the neighbours also came over. They put the car back in the garage and put new locks to the garage and the house.

“Thank you, Brother Rat. You saved me from those thieves.’

“That was my duty, Sister Car. Now you take rest and I will also leave.”

“Where are you going at this hour?”

“In the kitchen! When else will I get the opportunity to live and eat in the kitchen,” the rat laughed and said. The car too started laughing.

Arrogant Cloud

Cloudy Cloud was a young cloud. He liked floating in the sky and causing trouble wherever he went. One day, when Cloudy took a whole lot of water from The Old Sea, The Old Sea felt that it was important to give the young cloud an important lesson.

“When you come across people craving for water,” The Old Sea said, “or farmers standing in the fields who are waiting for you to shower raindrops, don’t disappoint them. Open your heart and quench their thirst. For that is the real purpose of being a cloud. And please, don’t cause trouble or harm anyone.

“Well, I shall see,” Cloudy Cloud said and quickly drifted away. He didn’t like The Old Sea telling him what to do.

“Ha! Everybody wants to give you a lesson and impose their thinking on you,” Cloudy Cloud grumbled. “I will shower raindrops wherever I want. I will do what I please. Let The Old Sea say whatever he wants. I don’t care!”

The people of a village saw Cloudy floating in the sky. Their eyes shone with joy. “Look there! There’s a rain cloud in the sky! It will shower raindrops on our lake! We will have lots of water to drink! Our thirst will be quenched!” the villagers said happily.

But Cloudy Cloud ignored the villagers and drifted away. “Why should I bother if you are hungry or thirsty, huh?” he said and left the poor villagers pining for water.

Cloudy Cloud then floated ahead arrogantly.

After some time, he stopped over a field. The farmers in the field looked up and clapped their hands. They were overjoyed. Their field was parched and they had been eagerly awaiting the rains.

“Now we will get the elixir of life! Our field will receive rainfall! Our crops will grow! We will have grains to eat! This cloud will surely shower rainfall!” the farmers sang and danced.

“Surely shower rainfall, huh?” Cloudy muttered. “Why should I shower rainfall on your field? Am I your servant? Do you think I’ve brought the water especially for your field from so far, huh? Well, I really don’t care about you or your crops!”

Cloudy then made a rude face and moved on. The farmers below blamed The Wind.

“Oh! The rain cloud was blown away! Wind, why did you do that? Our crops won’t grow now! We won’t have food to eat!” they wept.

The Wind who had been watching quietly felt very bad. He scolded Cloudy, “Cloudy, I am being blamed for your mistakes. Why aren’t you showering rain? You are disappointing everyone.”

“Mind your own business!” Cloudy Cloud told The Wind rudely. “Don’t you dare meddle with me or poke your nose in my affairs.”

“Don’t be so arrogant, young fellow” The Wind told Cloudy Cloud. “People will be grateful if you shower rain in places where it ! is needed.” Saying so, The Wind went away, hoping Cloudy would understand.

But Cloudy Cloud didn’t care. He had made up his mind to do what he wanted. He wanted to play pranks and have fun.

He found an old potter who was making mud pots and drizzled all over him.

“Oh no!” the potter cried. “All my efforts have been wasted. The rain has softened all my pots even before they could dry and take shape. I am ruined!”

Cloudy Cloud grinned. He enjoyed seeing the old potter cry. The Wind noticed this and felt very upset. But he knew that no matter how he tried, explaining anything to Cloudy was quite useless.

Cloudy Cloud decided that he would cause more mischief. He showered big drops of rain right above a lawn where a marriage reception was being held. The tents fell apart with the rainfall and the guests at the reception found that they were drenched. The food too was soaked with water and became inedible. There was chaos as everyone was running for shelter.

Cloudy Cloud laughed. He enjoyed having fun at the expense of others. He then drifted ahead, looking for more places to cause trouble. The Wind who had decided to follow Cloudy couldn’t bear to see the damage he was causing. He was very annoyed now.

The Wind then went to his old friend, Tall Mountain. “Tall Mountain, we must do something or this wicked, young cloud will go on troubling everyone.”

“You are right,” Tall Mountain said. “I have been watching Cloudy too. He really is wicked. Don’t worry. I have an idea. We will stop Cloudy from doing any further harm.”

Tall Mountain then explained his idea. A short while later, The Wind found Cloudy Cloud. He was showering raindrops above a clothesline full of dry clothes. “Cloudy Cloud, I won’t stop you from doing what you want! But I have a special request!”

The Wind said politely. “I hope you will listen.”

Cloudy stopped and turned around. He was curious and wondered what The Wind would say. “What is it?” he asked arrogantly.

“Please don’t go close to Tall Mountain! He has a high fever and a bad cold! The doctors have warned him not to get wet,” The Wind told Cloudy. “Is that so?” Cloudy Cloud asked mischievously.

“Yes,” The Wind replied, knowing exactly what Cloudy would do. Then, just as Tall Mountain had predicted, Cloudy enthusiastically drifted towards Tall Mountain’s peak. “I will shower raindrops on Tall Mountain’s peak and make him wet,” Cloudy Cloud said and laughed.

Now Cloudy Cloud didn’t know how high and strong Tall Mountain was. He rushed towards Tall Mountain’s peak with all his might and collided into it with a loud bang.

To Cloudy Cloud’s dismay, all the water he had within him splashed out in the form of heavy rain. And soon after that, he began breaking into pieces, like cotton balls.

“Help! I am vanishing! Please help me,” Cloudy Cloud cried as he slowly faded away “I don’t want to disappear!”

The last words that Cloudy Cloud heard before he faded away completely were, “This is what happens to those who cause trouble and try to harm others.”

Cloudy Cloud realized that The Wind and Tall Mountain were talking about him. “I wish I had been a good cloud and listened to The Old Sea and The Wind!” Cloudy Cloud said. He then disappeared completely.

BEST STUDENT

Mehak and Sakshi were going to school on their bicycles. They I had barely reached the school gate when Akshay pushed their bicycles.

Both of them fell down. Brushing their clothes with their hands, they got up.

“I will complain about you to the Principal,” Mehak said in anger.

“Do that he won’t believe you. Don’t you know that I am going to receive this year’s ‘Best Student’s award?” Akshay said proudly and ran away, laughing.

“He is right, Mehak. He never misbehaves in front of teachers or Principal. Just acts to be a good student,” Sakshi said, “You are a more deserving candidate for this award. You are equivalent to Akshay in both studies and sports. But you are not wicked like him.”

“I know but still I will complain about him.” When Mehak complained, the Principal said, “I have heard that Akshay is a very good boy. All the teachers too say so. Then why are you complaining about him?”

“I knew, Sir, that you won’t believe me but this is the truth. The teachers don’t know how much Akshay bosses around in the school.”

“Okay, if you bring even a single witness against him, I will cancel his award.”

Mehak tried a lot but nobody came forward to support her out of fear.

Buntu told her, “Are you seeing my swollen cheek, Mehak? Akshay had hit ! me. If I complain, he will hit me on the other cheek too.” At the end, Mehak gave up. Everyone was terrified of Akshay.

Very soon Winter Dale High Schools Annual day came close by. Many sports and programs were held in the school. That day the ‘Best Student’ award was also to be given.

Akshay got dressed up very smartly and was singing happily riding his bicycle, “Today I will get the Best Student award. La..la..la..”

Just then his bicycle got punctured. Chandu’s repair shop was nearby. Akshay took his cycle there.

“Chandu, leave everything else and repair my bicycle. I have to reach school soon.”

“You will have to wait, Akshay. I am repairing Shunty’s bicycle. He came before you,” Chandu said.

“Who Shunty? What Shunty? First repair my bicycle,” Akshay said furiously. Shunty, who was standing close by, said, “You are not doing the right thing…”

“Shunty, wait, I will teach you a lesson. How dare you argue with me,” Akshay caught hold of his collar and punched him twice. Suddenly somebody caught hold of his collar and punched him twice.

Suddenly somebody caught hold of his hand from behind. He looked a middle aged rich man. He scolded Akshay, “I have heard everything. You have no right to hit anybody.”

“No, first my work will be done. You mind your business. There is no need to interfere.”

“Oh, so you are bad mannered too. If you don’t stop bullying, I will take you to the police station.”

Now Akshay became mum and waited for his turn. Soon he reached school. Walking towards the function hall, he met Mehak and Sakshi. Akshay took his tongue out and teased them. Then Sakshi said, “I am sad that this year’s ‘Best Student award is going to the worst student.”

All the guests were sitting with the Principal on the stage. He got up and said, “Now I put forward Akshay’s name for the ‘Best Student award for this year.

He is not only good in studies and sports, but also helps everyone and respects elders.

“I request our school’s chairman Mr. Brajesh Mehta to give this award to Akshay.”

The entire hall echoed with the sound of applause. Akshay came to the stage very proudly.

But as soon as he saw the chairman’s face, he started sweating. He was the same man who had caught his hand at Chandu’s shop.

“What are you doing, Principal Sir? You are giving the Best Student’ award to him? He should get the Biggest FoulMouth award,” Mr. Mehta said and narrated the whole incident.

Principal Sir cancelled Akshay’s name glowering at him furiously. Then the award for the ‘Best student’ went to Mehak.

Akshay came back with wet eyes and heavy heart. He had never felt so much insulted. This incident completely changed Akshay for the good.

He stopped bullying and began living with everybody very cordially. He got a good result for that. His dream was fulfilled when he got the ‘Best Student award the next year.

The Ride

One day Tuffy Elephant’s son Golu went to Chunchun Rat’s house early morning itself and called him out. Chunchun had got up from sleep at that time and came out, rubbing his eyes.

“What is the matter, Brother Golu? Everything is all right?” he asked.

“Yes, everything is fine. I just came to tell you that from today onwards I will ride on you and roam everywhere.”

At first, Chunchun thought that he was still not completely awake, so he might have heard it wrong. But then he understood everything.

Actually, from the past few days, the schools were having summer vacations. Most of the children watched television in their homes. Golu too was fond of watching television. Ever since he had seen the people of cities driving fast cars, he wanted to ride on Chunchun who would run very fast. So he came early morning to Chunchun’s house to tell him about his thoughts.

Chunchun was very small, but he had a very sharp brain. So without getting petrified, he told Golu, “Brother Golu, today I am not well. You come after 3-4 days.”

“All right,” Golu said and left.

Chunchun delayed the problem for 3-4 days, but he knew that Golu will come again and he will have to be prepared beforehand.

Chunchun was wondering on whom to ask for help when he remembered Peelu Monkey. Peelu was his good friend and they would help each other.

He got ready and went to Peelu’s house and told him everything.

After hearing the whole story, Peelu laughed and said, “You don’t worry, Chunchun, I have a solution to this.”

Then Peelu told Chunchun about his plan and they both started working on it. After 3 days of hard work, they were ready to deal with Golu.

When Golu came to Chunchun’s house on the fourth day, he found Chunchun to be very happy. Golu asked, “Chunchun, are you ready?”.

“Yes, of course,” Chunchun said, “I will just come in a minute.”

Then Chunchun went inside the house and came out with something the size of a rat.

“What is this?” Golu asked.

Chunchun said, “Brother Golu, these days I am not keeping good health. That is why I have called my cousin from Sundervan to take you for a ride. Its name is ‘Skate Board’. You climb on it and kick. Then it will take you everywhere.”

Golu liked Chunchun’s idea. He enjoyed the ride on the ‘Skate Board’ so much that he forgot Chunchun.

Chunchun took a breath of relief and went towards Peelu’s house to thank him.

That ambulance that came to halt

Raju and his friends were on their way home from school when they heard a siren. They turned around and saw an ambulance. Raju felt bad for the patient inside.

A man got down from the ambulance and requested the other vehicles to give way but the cars were standing back-to-back. There was no place for the ambulance to move.

Raju and his friends were watching this incident. Raju noticed that the traffic jam was too long and was not going to clear that easily.

Raju ran forward to find out the reason for the traffic jam. He saw a big crowd and everyone was shouting slogans. Raju asked, “What’s happening?”

“We are on a strike because the government is not fulfilling our wishes,” someone replied to Raju.

Raju asked, “Would it not be better for you to be heard in a place where you are not blocking the entire road and creating problems for others?”

The man said, “If we don’t block the road, no one will hear us.”

Raju asked, “What’s that even supposed to mean?”

The man said, “Hey kid! If the traffic gets blocked, only then the government listens to us.” He started his sloganeering again.

Raju pleaded, “There is an ambulance at the back which has been waiting for a long time and the patient is in a critical condition. The patient has to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. Could you please make way for it?”

The man said, “You go from here. We will leave only when our wishes are heard.”

Raju understood that the crowd was not going to move. He knew something else had to be done to make sure that the ambulance reached the hospital on time so that a life could be saved.

Raju called his friends and said, “Come, let’s do something.”

Raju said to the other drivers, “Please move your vehicles a little so that the ambulance can go near the divider.”

Raju and his friends took the traffic boards and created a ramp for the ambulance to cross the divider and cross over to the other side of the road.

On the other side, cars were moving slowly. Raju and his friends signalled the cars to leave a place in the middle of the road for the ambulance to move.

The ambulance slowly inched forward.

The man from the ambulance thanked Raju and said, “My son’s life will be saved because of all of you.”

Raju thanked his friends and everybody went to their respective homes. They were happy to have saved someone’s life.

Don’t Hurt Plants

Jumbo elephant had a beautiful garden with different varieties of flowers. Gardening had become his passion. He planted new trees, flowering bushes and maintained his garden very well.

“Trees and plants are the pride of the Earth. They are the one to provide us with life,” sang Jumbo while watering his plants.

“Wow Jumbo, you have such beautiful flowers in your garden!” said Cheeku rabbit as he was crossing Jumbo’s house.

“Oh thank you, Cheeku. I love to take care of them,” said Jumbo while looking at his plants lovingly.

“You sure do. If I need some flowers for my house, I will take them from your garden only,” said Cheeku, touching one of the flowering plants.

Jumbo was not happy with what Cheeku had said. “Beware Cheeku. Don’t you dare touch that flower!” he said.

“What happened Jumbo? Why are you getting so mad at me?” asked Cheeku, a little shocked.

Jumbo said, “You were going to pluck my beautiful flowers and I shouldn’t even get angry? Do you know that even plants and flowers have life and when someone plucks them, they feel the pain?”

Cheeku did not seem to agree with what Jumbo was saying. “It is not so Jumbo,” said Cheeku.

This made Jumbo angrier. “Come here, I will pick you up and throw you down. Then let’s see whether you feel the pain or not,” he said angrily.

Jumbo quickly moved his trunk towards Cheeku to scare him. Cheeku ran away from there.

“Cheeku is worried about his pain. For him, it is fun to crush plants and pluck flowers. He does not think how much pain my dear plants will feel if he plucks them,” Jumbo mumbled to himself. He took a good look at his garden once again and went inside the house.

In the evening, Meeku mouse was passing by Jumbo’s house, riding his bicycle. As he was crossing Jumbo’s garden, Meeku’s bicycle wheel got stuck in a pothole and he lost his balance.

Meeku fell down on a bush in Jumbo’s garden along the road. Some plants and flowers were crushed because of Meeku and his bicycle falling on them.

Jumbo was reading inside his home when he heard the loud noise of the crash. He rushed out to see what had happened.

Jumbo was furious to see his plants damaged, the flowers crushed and the mud scattered all around.

Jumbo shouted, “You useless mouse. You have damaged my plants! You did not think about the pain they would feel. I will lift you and throw you on the ground. Maybe that’s when you’ll understand how much pain you’ve given my plants.”

Meeku tried to explain his side of the story but Jumbo was in no mood to listen. He wrapped his trunk around Meeku and picked him up.

“Jumbo, forgive me. I did not do this on purpose. I lost my balance because of the pothole and crashed into your garden,” pleaded Meeku.

But Jumbo was still furious.

“If you don’t know how to ride a bicycle then you shouldn’t ride it. I am not going to listen to any of your excuses. Today I will show you what pain is,” Jumbo continued as he shook Meeku with his trunk.

Meeku was too scared. Jumbo was just about to throw him to the ground when Cheeku came there.

“Jumbo put Meeku down! You’ve been thinking of the pain we would cause to your plants but are you thinking about the pain you’re putting Meeku through? He has been your friend for so many years and yet look at the way you’re treating him,” said Cheeku loudly.

Jumbo was surprised with what Cheeku had just said. “What are you saying Cheeku?” said Jumbo, calming down.

Cheeku explained gently, “Jumbo, you are getting angry because your plants are hurt. But what about the hurt that you are causing Meeku? Is it right to hurt someone to make them understand how much pain you or your plants are feeling?”

Jumbo realised his mistake. “I am sorry Meeku,” he said.

“I forgot that it is wrong to hurt others for my love of plants. I will not hurt others to give this message,” said Jumbo as he placed Meeku on the ground.

Jumbo then started to clear the destroyed plants and both Meeku and Cheeku helped him in the garden work. Jumbo realised that his blind love for plants had been hurtful to his friends. He now knew that both were equally important.

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